Prescription Charges.....

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24985242
Are these idiots incapable of arithmetic? They might as well abolish it altogether, only about 3 people ever pay anyway.

[bednobs]

eh? I don't get your arithmetic comment. Ok so i am rubbish at maths but their maths seem right to me?

[ToraToraTora]

It would raise 134m annually which is about enough to buy the bog roll for half a day! So basically the few that pay have to pay more so they can have 134m to spend on pot plants.

[ToraToraTora]

It costs more than that to administer the system.

[bednobs]

£134 million is not to be sniffed at though is it? and they are only saying it will help plug the gap, not fill it!

[bednobs]

how does it cost more to administer it?

[ToraToraTora]

They abolish charges altogether and save even more!

134m is nothing in the overall 80,000,000,000 budget. The charges cost more to collect and adminsister than they reap.

[bednobs]

so how much deos it cost to administer prescription charges then?

[mccfluff]

what do they administer, i know loads of people who *should* be paying but don't because no-one checks

if there were proper checks, make the charge lower but more people should pay

[jake-the-peg]

//134m is nothing //

Well it'd fund 3 Indian Mars missions!

[anotheoldgit]

The downside of inviting more and more non fee paying members, to take advantage of all the benefits enjoyed by fully paid up members of our NHS 'club'.

[ToraToraTora]

No idea but it must be huge, the NHS refuse to give that information.
adminstering and collecting the money from a zillion outlets
running the prepay scheme
production/distribution of literature
fraud investigation
etc etc

[bednobs]

so how can you say it costs more to administer, when you don't actually know?
I would guess that you perhaps are a payer for prescriptions and are grumpy about it?

[Mamyalynne]

I see two main issues, first the checking of those not paying when they should needs to be tightened up - also the fact that many people on long term medications are paying over the odds for their drugs, but because prescription only they have no choice.

[ToraToraTora]

It must cost more to adminster a scheme for 60m people, and coupled with the fact that the figures are hidden, leads me to be even more certain. Yes I pay but very rarely need medicine. I don't see the point in adminstering a system were 90% don't pay.

[Baldric]

Before I hit 60, I used to buy a Pre-paid Perscription Card,

£108 per year for all I needed, or you could pay Quarterly.

[mccfluff]

i agree with mamya, they need to tighten up on those who should pay but don't &reduce the charges for those who do pay.

the last time i went to my docs, she said no point in giving me a prescrip for painkillers as i could buy the same thing cheaper over the counter and just double up on the dosage.

[bednobs]

well if it "must" and you are "certain" then i completely believe you, you being an expert on the subject and all!

[youngmafbog]

Well we are all in tis together.

so 10% have to pay more so the 90% get carrying with the freebies, despite the fact many of the 10% already probably pour bucket loads into the system into the first place.

[bednobs]

so YMB, are you saying that allcomers should get pills for free then?

[youngmafbog]

On the figures:

So the NHS has an expected shortfall of 30Bn and they hope to 'plug the gap' with 134m a year. That wont even start to stem the flow and as TTT points out the system undoubtedly cost more to administer than it actually brings in.

//The largest single area of need is diabetes
The most commonly prescribed drugs are painkillers and blood pressure medication
Nearly 60% of all drugs currently dispensed in England are to those over the age of 60, free of charge//

Perhaps we need to look at all the Lard-arses first. If you are fat and wont do anything about it and get diabetes then you should pay full price for your drugs. Perhaps they would have no money left for pies then.